


Trading Paint

by Owlship



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015)
Genre: (minor) Body Modification, Drunk Sex, F/M, High-grade Energon, Other, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Robot Sex, Season/Series 01, Sticky Sexual Interfacing, Truth or Dare, leaving these idiots unsupervised was a bad idea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 03:03:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18401795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Owlship/pseuds/Owlship
Summary: Strongarm gets over her crush on Bumblebee, with a little help from Sideswipe.





	Trading Paint

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place somewhere in season one of RiD, or really whenever. All I know for sure is there needs to be more Strongarm/Sideswipe in the world. (And that I couldn't resist putting in Charlie/Bee either!)
> 
> Obligatory [tumblr link](http://v8roadworrier.tumblr.com/)~

A human visitor to the scrapyard means that Strongarm, as per regulation, is hiding amid the ranks of actual vehicles. Grimlock is pretending to be a sculpture, Sideswipe is patrolling the perimeter far enough away that he's in no danger of being seen, and Lt Bumblebee is-

"Sir!" Strongarm says as Bumblebee surges up and out of his vehicle mode, striding towards the open door of the scrapyard where Denny is greeting the new human. "Lieutenant! Protocol states-"

But Bumblebee doesn't heed her warning. "Charlie!" he says instead, radiating happiness. The human visitor- a woman of average height, no distinguishing features, dark hair and light skin- laughs, rather than any of the reactions Strongarm might expect of someone confronted with robotic persons from another world.

Bumblebee picks the woman up around her middle, spinning her in place while laughing.

"Sir?" Strongarm says, rolling closer but sticking to her vehicle form.

"It's been so long!" the woman- Charlie, the Lieutenant had called her- says, making grabbing motions until Bumblebee draws her in close, her arms wrapping around his neck.

"Stand down, Strongarm," Bumblebee says, distraction evident in his voice.

Strongarm hesitates, because regulations _clearly_ states that she should stay in disguise when in the presence of unaffiliated humans, but she's not sure this woman qualifies. She transforms to her primary form just as Bumblebee sets Charlie back down on the ground.

"Hi," Charlie says to her politely, waving a hand. "You must be Cadet Strongarm, right?"

"Yes," Strongarm says, taken aback. "I'm sorry, how do you know the Lieutenant?"

"Oh, we go way back," Charlie says, at nearly the same time as Bumblebee says, "She's my wife!"

Strongarm blinks her optics, runs a quick informal diagnostic on her audio receptors. There's no way that Bumblebee just said what she thinks she heard.

"Yes," Charlie says, "That."

"Sir?" Strongarm says, looking between the two of them. Denny looks as surprised as she feels, but he's already smiling in a hopeful way.

"Can I stop being a statue now?" Grimlock says, stomping over.

"And you must be Grimlock," Charlie says, completely at ease as she leans against Lt Bumblebee's legs.

Grimlock looks pleased that she knows his name.

Strongarm feels as if she has no control over the situation and it's disquieting.

"Bee, you never told us you were married!" Denny says cheerfully.

Bumblebee ducks his head, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ah, well, it never came up?"

"I told him not to," Charlie says. "Not everyone likes that he's bonded with a human."

Not just married in the human custom, then, but Sparkbonded? Strongarm abruptly drops back into her vehicle mode. "I'm going to go update Sideswipe on our... guest," she says, already rolling out of the scrap yard's gate.

The lieutenant waves her off, optics fixed on his human. Right before she passes around a corner she sees him pick Charlie up into his arms again.

There's no real need for her to update Sideswipe, or even track him down to do it in person. They have comms for a reason. But Strongarm latches onto the excuse, trundling through the tracks they've made through the forest, looking for his tell-tale flash of red paint.

She finds him lounging at the base of the small waterfall that lies in the eastern quadrant, very clearly _not_ patrolling the perimeter.

"Sideswipe," Strongarm says as she transforms into her main form, optics shaded and a servo on her hip.

He twitches like he wasn't expecting her- great, she thinks, he wasn't just loafing around but he wasn't even paying attention to his surroundings. He turns to her with an air of studied boredom. "Bumblebee sic you on me?"

"The Lieutenant has a visitor," she says, and finds herself sitting down on a rock across from him, close enough that she can feel the spray of water on her metal.

"Okay, and...?" Sideswipe says, now eyeing her up with suspicious optics.

"Why aren't you running your patrol?" she asks instead of answering him.

He rolls his optics. "Chill, I already did a loop. It's quiet."

Strongarm flexes her digits against her front thigh plate. "Bumblebee is Sparkbonded," she blurts out.

This gets Sideswipe's attention, and he sits up out of his insolent slouch. "Oh?" he says, optics bright. "He finally get tired of you making eyes at him and tell you off?"

"What?" she says, rocking back slightly at the accusation. "I would never, that is, he's my superior officer, I mean-" She cuts off her words before she can say anything incriminating and takes in a cooling inhale of damp air.

Sideswipe is looking at her with painfully obvious amusement all over his punk face, and she feels the urge to punch him rising up through her.

"His wife is visiting," she says when she's sure she can speak calmly. "Her name is Charlie."

"Charlie?" he says, pulling a face. "That sounds like-"

"She's a human," Strongarm says, suddenly fascinated by the forest detritus down under her pedes.

Sideswipe whistles out an exhale of air. "That _would_ explain why he loves this mudball of a planet so much," he says.

She wants to protest, tell him to show more respect, but she can only glumly continue surveying the plant life before her.

They sit in silence for a breem or two, before Sideswipe stands up. "Come on, you're bumming me out with that moping," he says.

She looks at him with a glare. "I am _not_ moping," she informs him.

"Of course not," he says, clearly mocking her. "You'll feel better if you go out and patrol though, admit it."

"You just want to hand off your duties to me," Strongarm says frostily, seeing straight through him.

He raises his servos, digits spread. "Calm down, I'll even go with you."

She narrows her optics at him, looking for the catch.

"That is, if you think you can keep up," he says, and takes off running, transforming to his alt form before he's gone ten paces.

"Sideswipe!" she calls out, but he doesn't stop, and it's not like she has anything _better_ to do. She changes forms as well, revving up her engine to chase after him.

"That's the spirit!" he says through the comm system, and she huffs.

"We can't run an efficient patrol if we're racing," Strongarm tells him.

"Sounds like you're just making excuses for being so slow," he taunts.

Her vision goes Energon-blue, engine kicking into a higher gear without her consciously deciding to go faster. "You are _so_ on," she says, deciding to abandon the cleared pathway to instead take a shortcut through the more wooded sections. His flashy sports-car alt mode can't handle the sorts of rugged terrain that _her_ chosen vehicle can.

Sideswipe whoops and races forward, dust springing up under his tires.

This really _is_ an awful way to patrol, but she has to admit, it's pretty fun. Sideswipe is- she mentally grimaces as she admits this fact to herself- undeniably faster than her on a straightaway, his slimmer chassis and souped up engine contributing more speed than can be ignored. But they're not _on_ a straightaway, they're weaving through the haphazard pathway they've all forged through long patrols around the scrap yard.

Strongarm gets so caught up in racing against him, pressing every advantage for speed that she can, that she doesn't notice they're driving into the scrap yard until he's pulling into a showy stop.

"Humans and gentlebots," he says as he transforms, "the winner."

He bows extravagantly as she mentally rolls her optics. Sideswipe takes a bow for an invisible crowd, then peers down at her.

"We never decided on terms for the race," he tells her, sly grin exposing his dentaes.

"That's because there aren't any," she replies, checking that the area is clear of civilians before transforming back to her main form. Not that there's much use for discretion when Sideswipe would have blown their cover already.

"You're back!" Grimlock says, and waves them over excitedly. "Come on, Charlie was just telling us about the time Bee lost his T-cog!"

Strongarm sends a sideways glance at Sideswipe, but he's already moving, that smile fixed on his faceplate. She hurries after him, wary of what sort of trouble he's planning.

Charlie is chatting easily with the others- even Fixit has descended from his perch in the Alcamor to listen to her- from Lt Bumblebee's lap, his arms wrapped loosely around her, digits stroking through her hair. She looks up with a smile and waves at Strongarm, before turning to greet Sideswipe.

"Good patrol?" Bumblebee asks, completely at ease with the human he's blatantly _cuddling_ in his lap.

"Nothing to report, Sir," Strongarm says stiffly.

"It's still weird hearing you talk," Charlie says, turning to look at the Lieutenant's face.

"I can turn on my radio again if you'd prefer," he says with a smile, looking down at her like she's the Allspark itself.

"I didn't say it was _bad_ ," Charlie says with a laugh.

"Why would he turn on a radio?" Grimlock asks.

"The Lieutenant suffered damage to his vocal synthesizer during the war with Megatron," Strongarm tells him. "It was repaired, but only after he'd spent several cycles communicating through alternate means."

"Like with the radio I gave him," Charlie says. "Do you remember that? You spit my cassettes back at me!"

"You were the one trying to get me to listen to _Rick Astley_ ," Bumblebee says with a shudder.

"Well, it sounds like you two have quite the history," Denny says. "How long have you been together?"

"It's rude to ask a lady her age," Bumblebee says, and Charlie rolls her eyes.

"We met in '87, so it's been what, about fifty years?" she says.

"Well!" Denny says, "I must say, ma'am, you don't look a day over... Well, to be honest..." He trails off, squinting his eyes at her. "What is your moisturizer routine like?"

Charlie laughs. "It's the Sparkbond," she says, "We bonded when I was twenty-five, and apparently that means I'm twenty-five pretty much forever."

"Sweet deal," Denny says, and Charlie shrugs demurely.

Strongarm can't take any more of this. "I'll go assemble my report," she says with a stiff nod in Bumblebee's direction, already turning to leave and return to the nook she's claimed as her quarters.

"For a routine patrol?" Bumblebee says. "You haven't filed one of those in weeks now."

"I've been horribly negligent, Sir," she says. "I'll correct that at once."

"Let her go," Sideswipe says, "She's just being a sore loser over how slow she is."

Strongarm clenches her servos into tight fists, but doesn't contradict him, not when it implies that she's acting strangely for a perfectly reasonable reason like hurt pride, and not a dented Spark. She's not some silly youngling she says sternly to herself as she retreats to her bunk, there's no need to be acting so upset! So what if the Lieutenant has a wife, a Sparkbond. It doesn't change anything whatsoever.

She fills out forms for every patrol she's undertaken since her last report, one and a half Earth month ago. By the time that's finished, the sun has started to go down, and she's starting to think tonight might be a night to have some Energon.

When she strides into the main clearing of the scrap yard, Sideswipe and Grimlock are engaged in some sort of game, a combination of lobbing and a human game, she surmises. Russell is watching a movie with Fixit, while Denny is off somewhere- inside his trailer, if the lights are any indication.

"Where's the Lieutenant?" Strongarm asks. His human is missing, too.

"He and Charlie went into town," Sideswipe says, grunting as Grimlock chucks what is very definitely _not_ a regulation ball at him. "Something about reunion interfacing, I wasn't paying attention."

A visceral shudder runs through her gears at the thought. Of course, they're Sparkbonded, that implies a level of physical intimacy, but to interface with a human...!

"You think she's gonna stick around?" Grimlock says, eyes on Sideswipe as he readies himself for another toss. "She's got some good stories."

"Unlikely," Strongarm finds herself saying. "It's been several Earth months since we've been here and she's only visited now? She'll probably go back to wherever she came from before long."

"Wow," Sideswipe says, turning to her as he snaps the ball in Grimlock's direction without looking, "Someone sounds bitter."

"I do not," she protests immediately. "I'm merely pointing out the obvious conclusion."

But Sideswipe waggles his brows at her, undeterred. She huffs out a gust of exhaust and moves to sit over by Russell and Fixit, even though she's not interested in watching a movie.

"Hey Strongarm," Russell says with a casual wave. "You're just in time for the good part."

"Russell has informed me that there are 'fireworks' displayed during this 'good part'," Fixit adds, like this is some secret knowledge.

"Sounds good," she says, even though she doesn't really care. Fireworks are just explosions with all flash and no substance, anyway.

Her comm chirps with an incoming message, and she raises a digit to help isolate the frequency; an idiosyncrasy she's picked up from Bumblebee.

" _Team_ ," Lt Bumblebee's voice says, and Strongarm glances around to see that the others are likewise engaging their comm units.

"Here, Sir," she replies.

" _I realize this is unusual_ ," he says, " _But I'm staying off-base tonight_."

"Called it," Sideswipe mutters.

" _Decepticon activity has been low, you shouldn't encounter any problems but if you do, contact me immediately. Strongarm, you're in charge. Sideswipe, stay_ on-base _unless you're doing a patrol. And Grimlock, don't stay up all night with Russell and Fixit_."

"Understood, Sir," Strongarm says, a flutter in her Spark at being put in charge. Of course it only makes sense- she's the second-highest ranking officer, after the Lieutenant himself- but it's nice to hear it made official.

"Yeah, yeah," Sideswipe says, while Grimlock is already starting to negotiate the terms.

"What if I stayed up _half_ the night?" Grimlock asks, and she tunes them out.

"Bumblebee's not coming back?" Russell asks, the movie put on pause.

"He undoubtedly desires to spend rhyme- chime- time! with his Sparkbonded," Fixit says.

"Yeah, they're gonna _kiss_ and _interface_ and get all mushy all night," Sideswipe says.

"Sideswipe!" Strongarm snaps. "Such talk isn't appropriate for a youngling of Russell's age."

Russell, for his part, is pulling a comically disgusted face as he interprets Sideswipe's words. "Ew, gross."

"What?" Sideswipe says with exaggerated innocence. "Or is it that _you_ don't want to think about your precious Lieutenant getting it on with some squishy human?"

"That is _enough_ ," she says as firmly as she can. "What Lieutenant Bumblebee does in his private life is _private_ and not up for discussion."

Russell has the movie back on, volume turned conspicuously high.

"I must concur with Cadet Strongarm," Fixit says.

Sideswipe rolls his optics but turns away, calling out to Grimlock, "Hey Grim! Best five out of seven!"

Strongarm tries to put it out of her mind and watch the movie, but she can't stop thinking about the distressing images Sideswipe has introduced to her. Do Bumblebee and his human _really_ interface? She can't imagine how they make that work.

She shakes her helm, but her processors won't let the idea go. "I'm going to run a patrol," she says, standing abruptly.

"The next scheduled rotation isn't for another two hours," Fixit says helpfully.

"Yeah," Strongarm replies, "I, um, with the Lieutenant gone, we should be extra vigilant."

"A wise decision," Fixit says with an approving nod.

"Sideswipe, Grimlock," she calls out, interrupting their game. Grimlock loses track of their ball and gets smacked right in the face with it. "I'm going out to patrol. I expect absolutely _no_ disturbances here while I'm gone. Understood?"

"Sir yes sir," Sideswipe says sarcastically, adopting an overly-rigid stance and saluting human-style with his servo up against the crest of his helm.

She rolls her optics. "Denny's in charge while I'm gone."

"What? How come _I_ never get to be in charge?" Grimlock says.

Strongarm just levels a look at him, and he sheepishly backs down. Maybe leaving isn't the wisest course of action, she admits, but at the same time she _needs_ to be in motion, doing something productive, in order to shake the images out of her processor.

She transforms to her vehicle form and rolls out of the base, turning on her headlights to illuminate the rough terrain of their patrol circuit. She doesn't really expect to come across any trouble- Bumblebee's correct in saying activity has been low- but she does her sweeps as thoroughly as she can anyway.

It's fully dark by the time she's calm and collected enough to return to the scrap yard, her patrol revealing absolutely nothing of any note.

Russell and Fixit have disappeared, leaving just Sideswipe and Grimlock up and about.

"Find any Decepticons?" Sideswipe says mockingly when she transforms back to her primary form.

For a moment she's tempted to lie, just to see the look on his face when she tells him that actually, she single-servo'dly fended off a _dozen_ Decepticons. She doesn't, of course- such a lie would be way beyond the bounds of proper behavior for a Cadet. "All clear," she says instead.

Grimlock has a suspicious look on his face, and from behind him, she can see a faint blue glue. "What is that?" she asks.

"Nothing!" Grimlock says quickly. "I don't know anything about any high-grade, Officer."

Sideswipe groans. "You lunkhead!"

"High-grade?" Strongarm says, surprise coloring her voice. "What are you doing with high-grade?"

"Come on," Sideswipe whines, "Just let it go. We're not hurting anyone!"

"Grimlock," she says, folding her arms in front of herself and making herself look as imposing as she can.

Grimlock sheepishly produces a mostly-full container of Energon, glowing extra-bright to reveal itself as high-grade indeed. "Want some?"

"I should confiscate that," Strongarm says. "Drinking while on a mission! That is _so_ far from proper procedure I can't even pull up all the regulations it breaks."

"Oh come _on_ ," Sideswipe says, still whining. "There is _nothing_ dangerous around for miles, and it's not like we couldn't handle it buzzed, even if there _was_." His expression morphs suddenly, a smirk growing on his faceplate. "Unless you don't think you can hold your high-grade, that is."

She knows he's attempting to manipulate her, but even so the insinuation makes her narrow her optics. "I can drink with the best of them," she says, "That's not the point. The point is, you and Grimlock shouldn't be getting intoxicated, especially not with the Lieutenant off-base!"

"Please," Grimlock says, drawing the word out. "I promise I can still fight even drunk!"

"I bet you're just a lightweight," Sideswipe says tauntingly. He picks up the container of high-grade Energon and dangles it from his digits, waving it in front of her. "Have you even _had_ high-grade before?"

"Of course I have," she says before she can think better of it.

"Then I dare ya' to have some now," he says, every feature of his chassis radiating smugness.

Knowing that she's being manipulated doesn't make it any easier to resist. Strongarm grabs the container and takes a deep swig, hiding a grimace as her sensors register the concentration of the brew. "You were saying?" she says, wiping off her mouth with the back of her servo.

Grimlock throws his arms in the air and cheers.

Her fuel tanks were running low before this, and high-grade isn't exactly a standard fuel. It won't be long before it starts to disrupt her processes, intoxicating her.

Sideswipe takes the container back and sips from it himself before passing it to Grimlock. "And now that you're here, we can play that game Russell was telling us about," he says.

"I don't have time for games," Strongarm says, but despite her good intentions, she doesn't turn to leave.

"It's fun!" Sideswipe says, a gleam in his optics. "It's called 'Truth or Dare'."

"Those don't have anything to do with each other," she says, somehow finding the container of high-grade back in her servos after Grimlock passes it to her again. She takes a sip, smaller than her first.

Sideswipe ignores her. "Rules are, you either have to do a dare, or answer a question truthfully, or else you're a coward and you forfeit," he says.

"This is juvenile," Strongarm says.

Sideswipe makes a grabbing motion and she passes him the high-grade.

"I want to go first!" Grimlock says. "Sideswipe, I dare you to, uh." He thinks for a moment, clearly stumped. "Lick the ground!"

Sideswipe pulls a face, but then shrugs. "No problem," he says, and makes a show of brushing off the top layer of dirt before sticking out his glossa and licking up a big stripe. "Sa-is-ied?" he asks, dirt-covered glossa sticking out of his mouth.

Grimlock laughs uproariously, and Strongarm rolls her optics. Sideswipe wipes off his glossa and finally puts it back inside his mouth. The container of high-grade has somehow made its way to her again, and she takes a larger swallow this time.

"Alright, my turn," Sideswipe says. "Strongarm: truth, or dare?"

"I have to pick?" she says, surprised. Grimlock hadn't given _Sideswipe_ a choice.

Sideswipe nods, and smirks. "Unless you're chicken."

"What does an Earth bird have to do- nevermind," she says with a shake of her head. She weighs up her options, absentmindedly taking another sip of the high-grade. "Dare," she settles on.

"I dare you to dance without music for at least thirty seconds," he says without hesitation.

Strongarm frowns, because what? But it's not anything dangerous, or even very humiliating. She hands off the container of high-grade and then stalls out, feeling their optics on her. "Do you have to watch me?" she says.

"Obviously," Sideswipe says.

"Come on, dance!" Grimlock adds.

She grimaces and closes her optics to block them out, and tries to pull up an appropriate memory of music to play internally. When she can't find one, she sighs and starts awkwardly moving, swaying side to side a little while she draws her arms up, bobbing her shoulders in time with the movements of her hips.

"That is _not_ dancing," Sideswipe says, laughter in his voice.

She snaps her optics open and glares at him. "Yes it is," she says, keeping up her movements until exactly thirty seconds has passed. "Sideswipe, truth or dare?" she asks almost before she's regained her balanced stance.

"Hey, it's my turn!" Grimlock says.

Strongarm supposes that _would_ keep it fair, even if it means she can't devise any sort of torment for Sideswipe. "Okay, fine. Grimlock, truth or dare?"

He ponders for a while, then says, "Truth."

"Oh," she says, floundering. "Um." Then inspiration strikes. "Where did you get this high-grade from?"

Grimlock looks shifty. "Around."

"Nuh-uh, you have to tell me," Strongarm says. "Or else you're a domesticated Earth fowl."

He sighs dramatically. "I found it in Steeljaw's hideout and I took it with me," he says. "Don't tell Bumblebee!"

She honestly isn't sure whether she's obligated to tell the Lieutenant or not. But she's feeling magnanimous at the moment. "I won't _if_ you follow my lead on the next mission, no complaining," she says.

Grimlock groans but nods his head. "Fine."

"My turn!" Sideswipe says. The container of high-grade he's holding is down to about half-full now and Strongarm thinks she can feel it hitting her system, a rush of off-kilter energy sparking through her. "Ask me truth or dare, Grim."

"Truth or dare?" Grimlock dutifully asks.

"Dare," Sideswipe says.

"I dare you..." Grimlock says, "To, uh...." He looks around the scrapyard, until his optics suddenly gleam with inspiration. "I dare you to put _that_ -" he points at a decorative lampshade- "on your head. No! On Fixit's head!"

"Can he do that?" Strongarm asks. Fixit isn't a part of the game, after all.

"Calling me a coward?" Sideswipe says cockily, plucking the lampshade from where it rests on a pile of similar objects.

She shakes her head, and follows behind with a giggling Grimlock as Sideswipe strolls towards the Alcamor where Fixit is either recharging, or working on some side-project of his. Somehow she ends up being the one to hold the high-grade, the container getting steadily more empty as she finds herself taking sips from it.

She's too far away to pick up with her audio receptors what Sideswipe is saying to Fixit when he encounters him, but he's not broadcasting through the comm system. All she can tell is that they talk for a minute or so, and then Fixit is placing the lampshade on his head and spinning in place, looking delighted.

Grimlock rolls on the ground in laughter.

Things devolve from there. The dares become more ridiculous, more extravagant, the truths shared more embarrassing for the bot in question. Strongarm ends up skidding down the side of the hill abutting the scrap yard in an old boat, Sideswipe and Grimlock shouting encouragements and taunts as she goes flying down, unable to hold in a scream when she realizes there's no way to steer her direction. Grimlock loudly recites a poem declaring Strongarm to be the best officer ever. Sideswipe tells them about the first time he got arrested, not at all ashamed of his young age at the time.

Somewhere along the way, Grimlock staggers off into a corner and can't be roused, leaving just her and Sideswipe, the high-grade container empty and her head buzzing with its slanted energy.

"I dare you," Sideswipe says, and pauses.

"Do your worst," she says, narrowing her optics at him. She's made it this far, there's nothing he can dare her to do that she'll back away from.

He smirks. "Dare you to kiss me."

"What?" She can't help but check her audio receptors. "Why would I do that?"

"Because I dare yah," he says, raising his brows meaningfully. "Or are you forfeiting like a coward?"

Strongarm wishes suddenly that there was more high-grade left that she could take fortitude from. "You are _on_ ," she says.

When she doesn't actually move Sideswipe's smirk deepens. "I'm waiting~"

She surges forward before she can talk herself out of it, before she can cite how many regulations such an act would be breaking. Her lips press against his, mash really, and then she pulls back quickly. "There," she says, resisting the urge to wipe off her mouth.

"You call _that_ a kiss?" he says. "I've had hotter kisses from grannies."

Strongarm glares at him. "Oh yeah?" she says, "Then I dare you to do better."

He glares right back, then leans forward and presses their mouths together again. He doesn't just peck and run, like she had- he tilts his head, plies her lips with his own. His servo reaches for her helm, the other landing on her hips.

It is, scrap him, a good kiss. She lets herself get caught up in it, pressing back into the warmth of Sideswipe's mouth, letting him part her lips and lick inside with his glossa.

He pulls away after she hears some faint noise leave her, unintentional.

" _That's_ a kiss," he says, optics halfway shuttered, lazily pleased with himself.

Strongarm notices that he's still holding on to her, that his exhaust system is kicking in to vent away heated air, same as hers is. She licks her lips and his gaze follows the movement.

"I bet you won't do that again," she says with a smirk of her own.

"It's my turn to dare you," he says, his digits tightening on her hip.

Before she can say anything he's leaning forward, crashing his mouth against hers in another searing kiss. It is _so_ far outside of the regulations to be fraternizing in such a way, but it's been such a long time since she's had contact like this and she can't resist responding.

Her servos grab at his armor, digits seeking out the gaps between his plating while their glossae tangle.

"Dare you to frag me," he says against her lips.

Strongarm jerks away from him, appalled. "Don't be absurd," she scoffs.

"What, you chicken?" he says.

"I am not interfacing with you for a _dare_ ," she says. Somehow neither of them has moved away, their bodies still pressed close.

"Sounds like you're a coward~" Sideswipe taunts in a sing-song voice.

She bares her dentae at him; she's no coward, but neither does she want to _frag him_ because of a dumb dare.

He smirks, and kisses her scowling mouth. "Come on, Cadet Rulebook, live a little," he says. "You can even pretend I'm Bumblebee if you want."

That does nearly make Strongarm force her way out of his hold. "Don't be crude!" she says.

Sideswipe doesn't back down, optics staring at her challengingly.

"Fine," she spits out. "But I bet you can't even make me overload."

He snorts. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she replies. When they kiss this time it's like a sparring match, mouths warring, digits roaming as they look for weak spots.

He starts trying to push her down and Strongarm pushes right back, using her superior strength- _hah_ , she thinks, speed isn't everything- to get him backed up against one of the walls of junk. He lets out a strangled noise as his backplating hits the metal shelf.

She digs her digits into the seam of his abdominal armor, feeling the delicate mechanisms hidden just below the thin gray metal. Sideswipe retaliates by attacking her neck, nipping at the sensory wires there, exhaling hot against her. One of his legs insinuates itself between her thighs, pressing against her inguinal armor.

"I'm gonna make you overload so hard you short out," he says, clearly meaning it to be enticing.

Strongarm rolls her optics and guides his servo to one of the gaps in her chest plating where she likes being touched. He delves inside without any finesse, digits digging in, and she winces. " _Gently_ , punk," she hisses.

"I'll show _you_ gentle," he mutters, but does draw his digits back slightly, less jabbing at her and more caressing when he starts to move again.

Her gears shudder at the touch, Spark starting to throb with the energy build-up from this, and from the high-grade Energon still swamping her systems. She strokes her digits around the headlights on his chest, earning her a muffled groan.

"Bet you're already lubricated for me," Sideswipe says, servos leaving her chest to grab onto her inguinal armor instead, pulling her firmly against his leg.

"Dare you to find out," she replies. She slides open her modesty panel, shivering in place as her sensory nodes come online, valve twitching against itself.

He reaches for her and then stops at the last astro-cycle, smirking at her. "Gently, right?"

In answer she grabs his wrist, pulling his servo the last few inches until he makes contact with the outer section of her valve. She _is_ lubricated for him already, but she prefers to think it has to do with how long it's been since she last interfaced with anyone. Not since Nightra at the Academy, she thinks with a sigh of exhaust as Sideswipe runs his digits along her opening.

"Is that _two_ nodes I feel?" he says, digits circling one, then the other. "My my, _someone's_ had some mods done."

Strongarm shrugs. "What, like you're standard-issue?" True, she only had the mod installed because Nightra had dared her, but once it was integrated, she's never regretted it.

"Surprised, is all," he says, spreading lubrication from her leaking valve to glide over her nodes, the pressure just a little heavier than she prefers it. "I wouldn't have taken you for the type."

"Are we talking or are we fragging?" she says, reaching down to his own inguinal armor. His codpiece is firmly in place, which she doubts is very comfortable for him.

Sideswipe ruts his hips up at the touch, then starts to slide down to the ground, dragging her with him. She lets him, settling herself in his lap, legs spread to straddle his abdomen.

"Just making sure you're all revved up first," he says, "I can be a lot to handle."

She snorts, and watches with interest as his paneling slides away to reveal his spike, pulsing softly with bio-lights along his length. In all honesty, it's less modified than she would have expected of him.

"I don't think that'll be a problem," she says after sizing him up.

He looks offended, and she grins. Point for her.

"You haven't seen what I can do," he growls out.

Strongarm leans forward and kisses him, letting her hips rock against his so that his spike rubs along the opening of her valve. He shudders underneath her, servos reaching to grab her aft.

"Why don't you show me, punk?" she asks when she draws away, and doesn't give him a moment to reply before she's aligning herself over his spike, sinking down with a relieved moan.

His spike isn't the biggest she's ever had, but it still feels wonderful as it pushes into her valve, the ridges he modded on rubbing against her internal sensory nodes, forcing apart her walls to allow him in deep.

Sideswipe groans as she hilts him, optics closed and mouth hanging open. If she wasn't too busy feeling so fragging good she'd smirk at seeing him so overcome.

As it is she pauses there, allowing her processors to catch up to this new sensory input. When she starts moving she sets an almost leisurely pace, reveling in the sensations his spike is producing inside of her.

It doesn't take long before Sideswipe gets impatient, hips bucking up against hers but without the leverage to really do much. "Come on," he says, "That all you got?"

She trains her optics on him lazily, then considers something. "You're the one who's supposed to be making me overload," she says, and pulls herself off his spike. Her valve clenches hungrily on nothing. "Why should I be doing the work?"

He's on her in an astro-cycle, pressing her down so her back is to the ground, door-wings uncomfortably flexed out of the way. Strongarm lets out a moan as he thrusts back inside of her, moving hard and fast right from the start.

He's propped up on his arms above her, the bio-lights on his chassis glowing bright with the exertion, mechanics whirring and clanking as he frags her. She feels painfully aware of the fact that they're essentially out in the open- they're in a far corner of the scrap yard, sure, and everyone else is asleep, but there's nothing but sky up above them, hardly anything in the aisle to block the view should someone wander by.

The thought makes her shudder, which Sideswipe takes as encouragement because he leans back, putting more of his weight into his thrusts.

"That's it," he says, "You like it, don't you?"

She feels like rolling her optics at his tone, but she has to admit that it _does_ feel good to have him moving like this inside her valve. "Not getting me off, though," Strongarm says tauntingly.

He growls and reaches down between their straining chassis, digits finding her twin sensory nodes and rubbing harshly.

"Ah!" she shouts, jackknifing as she attempts to get away from the rough sensation. " _Gently_!"

Sideswipe rolls his optics but lets up on the pressure, using her lubrication to ease the way as he more carefully rubs around her nodes. "Better, _princess_?"

In response she clamps down with her valve's internal structure as hard as she can, arresting his movements mid-thrust.

"Oh, slag! Primus, okay, you win," he says, twitching in what is either pain or pleasure, she can't really tell.

Strongarm lets up her hold on him and he continues moving after a moment, cautiously now.

"You have a few more mods, got it," he says.

"That one was forged in," she tells him, wrapping one of her struts around his hips at the same time, changing the angle slightly.

Sideswipe looks as if he can't decide whether to be revved up or scared, and she squeezes more gently this time, just enough for him to feel the pressure on his spike. She can't help it if Primus saw fit to give her a healthy dose of strength _everywhere_.

He groans, thrusts speeding up again. "How haven't you overloaded yet?" he asks, voice strained. "I'm barely hanging on here."

"Looks like you're going to lose that bet," Strongarm says, unsure if she wants to overload more, or if she wants to rub his loss in his faceplate more.

His exhaust system is churning away noisily now, the hum of coolant passing through his systems noticeable. She's not unaffected herself, but she requires more finesse than it seems like he can deliver.

"You wish," he says, and with a noise that she's definitely going to classify as a whimper, he pulls himself out of her completely.

"What are you doing?" she demands, sitting up to get a better look at him.

Rather than answer her Sideswipe shuffles back, servos holding her thighs apart, and then he dips his head and he _licks_ her valve.

She lets out a surprised cry, clamping a servo to her mouth an astro-cycle later, too late to actually muffle the noise. He plunges two of his digits inside her valve and applies his glossa to the rest, licking over her entrance, her sensory nodes.

It's just the right sort of stimulation for her: direct, but not overbearing like his digits had been. Strongarm crashes back against the dirt, the servo not clamped to her mouth reaching for his helm.

She's sure he's smirking at her reaction, and now he's _definitely_ going to win the bet, scrap him, but it feels so good she doesn't care. Her Spark pulses and thrums in an increasing rhythm, warnings popping up in her processor about the state of her circuits.

"Ah, Primus," she moans as Sideswipe rubs his fingers directly against an internal node, applying suction to both her external nodes at the same time with his mouth. She feels her overload approaching, approaching- and then it crashes through her, her sensory inputs whiting out, pleasure wracking her frame as she grinds her valve against his stupid smug face.

She shudders through it until the wave of electric feeling has eased, and she lets go of his helm.

He raises his head, glossa extending to lick away the lubrication she's left on his faceplate. "I win," he says, every bit as smug as she knew he'd be.

Strongarm groans, but she's feeling too much pleasure to be truly annoyed. By the Primes but it's been too long since she last interfaced.

"And I know just what I want for my prize," Sideswipe says, snapping her attention back to him.

She narrows her optics, visions of horrible humiliations dancing through her processor, but he just moves to cover her again, sliding his spike back inside her slickened valve.

He moans at the feeling, and she can't help the noise she makes as she sucks air into her system.

"Yeah," he says, servos grabbing at one of her thighs to hold her open, "Just like that."

She's oversensitive now, so it's lucky that it doesn't take him much longer to overload, transfluid gushing hot and sticky inside of her.

Strongarm grimaces at the thought of what a hassle cleaning that up is going to be. He pulls himself out and she immediately squirms away from underneath him, paneling snapping shut again.

"What," he says, "No cuddling?"

She rolls her optics and gets back up to her pedes. "Cuddle with Grimlock if you're lonely," she says.

Sideswipe pouts, and her Spark is not even the least bit softened by his expression of disappointment, no Siree.

"We should go on patrol," she says, suddenly and painfully aware of how negligent she's been in her duties. And that after the Lieutenant specifically put her in charge!

"Ugh, pass," he says, still flopped on the ground.

Strongarm nudges him with her pede and he swats her away. She feels good after her overload, the fogginess of the high-grade burned away. She'll start with a quick trip to the stream to rid herself of the traces of lubricant and transfluid, she decides- it's no oil bath, but it'll get the job done.

She transforms into her vehicle mode and then pauses, sensors trained on Sideswipe where he's wearily picking himself up.

"Maybe we could do that again sometime," she says.

He raises a brow, smug look returning. "Maybe we could," he agrees. "You didn't even need to think about Bumblebee to get off, did you?"

"Don't talk about the Lieutenant like that!" she says, barely resisting the urge to honk her horn for emphasis. It wouldn't do to wake up the whole scrap yard, after all.

Sideswipe smirks at her, and she's reminded of how much he annoys her. "I'm going on patrol," she says. "You are going to clean up and recharge, and neither of us is _ever_ going to mention tonight to Bumblebee, _ever_."

She rolls away before he replies, heading straight for the small stream that cuts through the property's surroundings. Once clean, she runs the perimeter, encountering not a single leaf out of place.

When she returns to the scrap yard, Sideswipe is nowhere to be seen- in his quarters recharging, she assumes. Grimlock is still lying in a heap where they left him and she sighs, throwing a tarp over him in case there are any early-morning visitors.

She's starting to feel the after-effects of the high-grade, not to mention the lingering awareness she has of her well-used valve. Strongarm checks that the perimeter defenses are set properly and retreats to her bunk, eager to recharge.

 

Bumblebee drives back up to the scrap yard around noon, Charlie nowhere in evidence.

"Maybe he squished her," Sideswipe mutters, and Strongarm elbows him in the side.

He's suspiciously cheerful and energetic, playing music from his car form's radio even after he switches modes. He looks good, content and refreshed, but now that she knows he's Sparkbonded and happily so, she doesn't feel quite the same pull towards him that she did even just a day ago.

"All clear here, Sir," she says before he can ask her to report. Admittedly Grimlock had groaned like he was being extinguished earlier as he came back online, but he's mostly alright now.

"Good, good," Bumblebee says with a nod, finally letting the music trail away at the end of a song. "I never doubted you for a second."

"Because he was too busy _interfacing_ ," Sideswipe whispers to her.

Strongarm jabs him again, but this time he dodges, and she ends up extending her intended elbow into a fist to catch him.

"Hey!" he yelps, though the blow couldn't possibly have been hard enough to do any damage. "I just waxed my finish!" He draws himself up and punches back at her, but there's too much distance between them for it to be anything like proper form.

"Come on then," she says as she drops into a fighting stance, "Let's see if you can take me."

"Guys, really?" Bumblebee says, but Strongarm has her attention focused on Sideswipe, and her sudden need to wipe his stupid smug look off his faceplate.

"Oh, it is _on_ ," he replies, lunging at her. They grapple for a moment, Bumblebee saying something to Grimlock in the background. Then Sideswipe whispers right into her audio receptor: "And you know what I'm gonna do when I get you on your back again?"

Strongarm quakes at the memory, but pushes back against him. "Not if I pin you first," she says, feeling arousal already starting to cycle through her Spark at the prospect.

He grins at her in answer, and she has a feeling that she's not going to be sorry whether she wins or she loses.


End file.
